Dora The Explorer

...for the un-initiated, Dora can be found here.

Here's some pics of Dylan out "exploring in the jungle" with Dad the other week. We saw lions, tigers, elephants and a big crocodile. Also, there was a handy lookout point half way round where we ate our provisions of raisins, biscuits and some orange juice. Lucky for us too that Dylan brought his cars so we could play for a bit (Exploring is hard work so you need to relax if you want to get through it). The whole expedition was about 400m long, or about twelve miles if you're 2 years old.

We also went for a cruise round the neighbourhood early one morning recently as it had decided to rain (which can be a novelty). We donned our macs and headed out to splash in puddles and generally have a giggle catching rain on our tongues and stuff.

So, apart from exploring, things have been quite busy round here. Isy has just managed to get her project live at work, which involved a long weekender (What IS it with IT?) and I have finally launched my website after a good few months and am now busy promoting it in anyway I can. For those who weren't involved in the testing, there's a "counter clue" on the right of this page... I knew my debaucherous Uni days would pay off eventually. Actually, it's a lot of fun just watching it seep it's way out into the Internet at the moment.

So, that's about it, except for "A Special Big Hello!" to my little sister who is going to make me an uncle any time soon! Can't wait :-)

Canberra

With winter now approaching we've got a bit more adventurous with our weekends and took a weekend break to Canberra. We've been in Oz over a year now and haven't been south of the city yet so it came as quite a pleasant surprise to see that it's not all Gum trees as far as the eye can see as it seems to be going north! In fact we were treated to green hills, grazing cattle and rolling plains which made a nice change. The drive to Canberra is very easy and only about 3 hours which means Dylan can make it without going loopy.

We checked into our hotel and scooted off to the Parliament building only a couple of blocks away. All very nice too and it gave us a real feeling of how young a country Australia is. We did the usual thing and tagged on the back of a guided tour round the various rooms and took a seat in the Senate and House Of Representatives. It was the weekend so no-one was, ahem, "working". Order. Australia uses proportional representation and in Western Australia, Kalgoorlie, is a single electorate. At 2,295,354 sq.km it is also larger than Western Europe. The minister for Kalgoorlie receives a special budget allowance for flying around his constituency.

We also had a look at the National Museum of Australia while we were there and were again very impressed. Canberra is quite a nice place, but I have to say. It's pretty devoid of people too! I was having fun making up tourism slogans like "Come to Canberra. No-one else does." or "Canberra - All fun. No queues." . Not as harsh as I think Bill Bryson said though - "Canberra. Why wait for death?". Speaking of death, we checked out the war memorial which seems to be sort of compulsory when visiting capital cities for some reason. All a bit sombre but it did give you a sense of Aussie history. Another little known fact is that Australia has been in the fortunate position to have never fought a war on home soil. I reckon it should stay that way too...

So there you are. Our little escape to Canberra. Dylan liked it anyway. Loads of space to run around in without too much worry about cars n' stuff.

Visitors

So, what have we been up to... well, we've had some good fun with visitors from afar! My auntie has been in Oz staying with her son Dave and his family so we've been lucky to spend quite a lot of time with her catching up on everything. We managed to spend a couple of afternoons together in various parks etc. and took a trip to "The City" one day to check up on Isy at the office... Needless to say Dylan enjoyed being with her and I can still hear the loud cries of "Auntie Olwyn! Look at this!" and such from the little fella...

We've also had a great afternoon hooking up with Duane and his wife Michele and Connie (who has just moved to Oz). Duane, Connie and I used to hang out in Munich in 1993 and have recently found each other again through LinkedIn. What a laugh. Here we are taking up where we left off with a German Stein at the LowenBrau beer keller in Sydney after 14 years. You couldn't make it up...

Thinking about it, we've spent a fair bit of time down at the Rocks recently. Here's a few pictures of a certain someone tucking in to an ice cream (or two!)...

...a couple of the aquarium at Darling Harbour...

And just to finish off... some pics of Aussie wildlife at the local Koala park...

ahhhh...

baby kangaroos....

Mind The Gap.

In the blog that is...and it was all going so well!! Seem to have had a bit of a break there, I guess I got out of practice...

Anyway, needless to say, we're still out here in Oz and it's still loadsa fun :-) Isy has just taken a 6 month contract and I'm now working from home which, I have to say is a nice change. I even manage to get to the driving range during lunch hour. I am working hard though.

Honest.

No, really.

Anyway, we've got my Auntie over here staying with my cousin at the moment and we're meeting them for dinner tonight. It's been good to see her again after a couple of years. I think she's enjoyed it over here, especially up in Port Douglas snorkelling and stuff... nice.

Well, I gotta go get the little guy early from day-care so we can head off for dinner. I'll get some pics up soon of our latest antics... adios.

Ready...Set...

JUMP!!!

Talk about covered in sand on the way home. He was caked in it. Dylan is pushing the limits on several fronts at the moment, the best ones being, ahem, gross motor function (that's a medical term that is) and the not-so-best-ones being of the assertive independence kind. Still, the joys of being two I suppose. He has several favourite phrases which get repeated often, one of which is "I want an ice pop please daddy" but you've got to draw the line at 6:30am.

It's been two four day weeks for me recently which has been nice. Jan 26th was Australia Day which is, naturally, a national holiday. We headed off towards the centre of Sydney to see what was going on, and it turned out to be quite a lot! There was a huge classic car exhibition right through the centre of town with everything from Minis to Corvettes. (If anyone knows of a nice red, 1965 Ford Mustang going, I'll take it. But you can keep the furry foxtail whateveritis...). There was also quite a bit going on in the harbour with the ferries all decked out, Google taking close up aerial shots for Google Earth and an F-18 flyby (I'd put a picture up, but Gary's is much better...) All good fun!!

Last Friday Isy and I had day off and went to see Casino Royale in the morning which was fantastic!! Daniel Craig is a great Bond and the new gritty edge was excellent. The day went one better too!! England managed to win something, and We Were There! Yep, after so many games and weeks that I've lost count, the England cricket team played their socks off to beat the Aussies at the SCG in a day-nighter. Very entertaining and beyond all my expectations. I tell you, it's not how many you win, it's which ones you go to watch that counts :-)

Today we all went off to Camden Valley golf course for my first ever full round. What can I tell you. I thought my score was my phone number at the end :-) A "few" shots over par but it was a great laugh and I learned an awful lot. I kid you not, I hit three trees in three consecutive shots. I mean c'mon, really... although I did manage to get down in four on one of the par threes which I was pretty chuffed with. I'll definately be giving it another go soon though. Just not for money.

The New Year has seen quite a few old friends surface (Hello everyone!). Amazing really, coming all the way to Sydney to find people again who (some of them) used to live round the corner!! Anyway, it's been fantastic hearing from everyone and we're looking forward to visits from Duane in May and Connie sometime soon!! It's been nearly 15 years since we all used to hang out in Munich doing the beer gardens... "Noch ein Stein bitte. Ausgezeichnet."

Happy New Year!!

So it's 2007 then. Zip another one gone. I have to say, our Christmas was somewhat different this year. Being away from the family was a bit tough and I just couldn't get my head around it being 25C and blue skies (My brain was screaming "Juuullllyyy!!!"). Having said that, we had a great Christmas day, starting with Dylan going mental unwrapping presents and finishing slightly sozzled (us, not him) in the evening at my cousin's place after a bit-of-a-do. We managed to do a web cam linkup with my folks back in the UK for a good half hour or so which was great. Wifi and a laptop at our end meant I could "show them round the house" and follow Mr.D running around all over the place. Great technology! On boxing day we headed off to Mona Vale beach and basically just hung out making sandcastles and got some fresh air (i.e. detoxed).

I've also been practising my golf up at the driving range a few times thanks to Isy getting me some lessons for Christmas! The instructor was excellent and I managed three straight shots onto the green!! Of course, as soon as he left I was slicing them like mad again but still, I know what a half decent shot feels like now :-)

And so now after a quieter New Year, it's back to the old routine. Dylan has returned to daycare a few days a week, I'm busy as always at work and Isy is again looking for a contract to keep her sane. Actually, Dylan is now in the "big kids room" at daycare which he seems to be settling into OK. He's still a chatterbox and this week's classic was listening to him talk a little Chinese women crazy on a half hour bus ride into the city.

The weather is also pretty fantastic now and we spend a fair amount of time either playing in the parks or swimming in the outdoor pool down the road. Dylan is now an expert at "Ready, Set, Spladoosh!!" and often shouts "No big dunk!" before jumping in... Would I!?!? ;-)

On the weekend we decided to head down to Circular Quay for a harbour cruise and a walk around the Opera House and Botanical Gardens which was nice. If Sydney has one thing, it's an amazing waterfront and just sitting back watching the world go by was pretty cool. Some of those houses!!!....

So that's about it I guess.

All the best to everyone for 2007!! Let's see what this one brings eh?!